Challenging times are ahead

Published 9:54 am, Saturday, January 19, 2013

It’s a shared sadness in our community as the loss of Cargill — and the 2,200 jobs it provided — sinks in to our hearts and many pocketbooks.

Hours after the plant’s closure was unexpectedly announced, workers struggled to cope, and it was seen all around town.

Many flocked to churches to pray, as special services were held in response to the blow.

The pews at Our Lady of Guadalupe were filled with those not knowing how they would support their families in the months to come.

“We’re here to pray for all those who lost their jobs,” a young mother told me as she stood outside the sanctuary with a toddler. While her household income wasn’t directly affected, her eyes said she felt the pain, too.

It touched and humbled me to see so many people on their knees seeking God’s grace during crisis.

Facing the unknown, still others opted to self-medicate. I’m told liquor stores saw a heavy influx of patrons from the meat plant in the hours after the announcement.

Earlier in the day, I had talked to a small group of women who worked for Cargill. They were all mothers who had just learned their jobs were lost.

They struggled to fight back tears when I asked what this means for their families. Then I almost regretted asking. Their hearts were so heavy.

With so many jobs lost, the ripple effects to come are difficult to imagine. Everyone knows someone who depended on a paycheck from Plainview’s largest employer.

Over at Jackie’s Pit Stop BBQ, news of the Cargill situation spread quickly. Within two hours of the announcement, people there were speculating about what those lost jobs will mean for small businesses like that one. Most of the handful of people there when I stopped by had worked at the meat plant at one time or another.

As the difficult day progressed, the Herald posed a question on its Facebook page: What will Cargill’s closure mean for Plainview?

Thoughts poured in quickly.

“All these families have houses, vehicles, bills and children who need providing for,” one woman wrote, expressing compassion similarly shared by others.

Several offering comments referred to the blow as “devastating.” Another speculated the crime rate will go up locally with the resulting higher unemployment and someone else described the ordeal as “heartbreaking.”

But Mayor Wendell Dunlap told the Herald that city leaders will remain positive in the face of such adversity. “We will be able to deal with the challenge,” Dunlap said.

A challenge, no doubt it will be, as the effects will be felt by nearly everyone.

I’m reminded of something Dr. Charles Starnes, associate dean of business at Wayland Baptist University, said recently. It is important to note he was referring to the U.S. economy, but his point seems valid today.

“The one thing the economy will do, is whenever there’s a change . . . over time we will adjust to the change to maximize our benefit to whatever circumstances exist,” Starnes said. “We all tend to do that, from the multi-millionaire to the person on the street with a sign that says they’ll work for food. But it takes time to adjust to a change in those circumstances. The good thing about us human beings is that we are clever enough to figure out those adjustments.”